A history of spike trains as Point Processes in neural coding.

The history of viewing spike trains as point processes along time is that of the inference that spike trains participate in neural codings. A characteristic thought process, the "Conceptual Framework", present always and with sequential components, upholds the logic of this view. Early research in the 1920's introduced the view: experiments, though largely primitive, were designed and interpreted adequately and thus demonstrated convincingly this role. Modern research, starting around 1950, has contributed impressively. Essential was the mathematical Theory of Point Processes that permitted rigorous studies; computer implementation, though no substitute for clear thinking, was enormously helpful. Contributions, besides confirming the key inference, include wide-range train participation in neural codings, with many courses of action and formal implications involving neuronal performances individually and in networks, discharge forms, dynamic behaviors, critical Information and Communication issues, etc.